Book Review: Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker

Sleep, one universal thing we share with other humans and animals. It is as important as eating and drinking (water! no being cheeky.) Matthew Walker goes over scientific studies and findings of sleep and gives his honest opinion on how our modern lifestyle is destroying this act that is not only fundamental for our mental health but also our physical health.

I would recommend this book. It is no wonder it has become an international bestseller. However, the book was repetitive at times. Also, I’m always cautious when anyone says something is a cure for all. I got an impression from the book that there is nothing sleep can’t cure or nothing it isn’t involved. That might be true that sleep is an important part of our well-being (I’m sure after reading the book it is), but it is not the only actor that has a saying on our lives. But I’m sure if you are constantly fatigued, not getting your 7-9 hours of sleep at night, and are highly stressed, then sleep cures most of the ailments.

The book gives an important message to us, our employers, and our decision-makers, if we keep going on as we do now, with high stress, artificial lighting, irregular sleeping, and not sleeping at all something will give in. And I have to say there is surprisingly little general debate about the matter. If there are articles about sleeping in the newspapers, they approach the matter from the individualistic perspective. There is nothing wrong with that, but there should be talking about why lack of sleep is so widely shared in our society?

Thank you for reading!